Coulda, Woulda, Shan't

[llamaboy]

 I took my SA TSP longslide 10 mm out for its first hunt last night.  It's topped with a factory installed Trijicon MSR and co-witnessed iron sights.  I'm shooting a 200 gr TCFP bullet from Missouri bullets.  I have a local rancher that lets me hunt deer in order to preserve some of his hay crop.  I got into position about 1/2 mile from a swamp around 4 PM.  The place is thick with willows that grow in bunches 10'-15' high.  The cattle graze in there, but you can't hunt in there because it's too noisy, and visibility is 20 yards at best.  So I picked a spot on a spit of brush that was on the edge of a hay field, and gave me some visibility.  A few minutes before 6 PM, I noticed a deer slowly walking towards me.  He stopped about 25 yards from me and started raking a sapling.  I counted 3 points on a side, and figuring he had brow tines, he was an 8-pointer!!!!!  But I couldn't shoot due to the heavy growth.  So I waited about 5 minutes while he cleaned his antlers for me.  He then resumed walking towards me, and got to the edge of the clearing I was sitting next to, and stopped.  He took a look at me, and raised his tail.  He stood there a few minutes, then slowly walked into the clearing.  He stopped about 15 yards from me, broadside.  Nothing between us but air.  Oh, did I mention that the rancher wants me to only shoot does?  I'm sorry.  I'm really sorry, because I COULDA shot him quite easily, I WOULDA shot him, but I SHAN'T.  Disappointing, but still quite the experience. 

[Bluebird5000]

It's fun to get close to wild animals. The last few weekends I have had a small six point walk within 5 yards of me and he doesn't flee when we walk up within 25 yards of him. When he is a larger legal buck here I don't see him lasting long haha, though if he is that tame I will not shoot him. I wasn't able to hunt much last year but this year I plan to get a few does, they all taste great!

[gnappi]

Once years ago, I was walking a game trail in a VERY dense WMA in south Florida. I wore suede moccasin boots with the soles removed and I was VERY quiet. I stopped to listen for a bit and turned to see I was literally face to face nearly nose to nose with a buck. Maybe six, maybe eight points dunno, we were both stunned to silence and when I finally blinked and took a breath he snorted in my face, reared backward and pitched himself into the dense brush.

I never had a chance to unholster my XP100 in its shoulder rig, and I almost needed a change of undershorts :-)

[llamaboy]

Addendum:  I was chatting with the ranch manager after the season was over, and we started talking about people hunting there without permission.  During the discussion, he mentioned that he puts out trail cams to try and catch them. 

It reminded me of the "Situation Ethics" articles in the Bugle.